KASABIAN`S 48:13 LIVE

PRODUCTION PROFILE: Kasabian
KASABIAN’S 48:13 LIVE
RENOWNED FOR THEIR ROLLERCOASTER ANTHEMIC BUILDS AND GUT TINGLING DROPS, KASABIAN AND
THEIR CREATIVE TEAM WORK THEIR AUDIENCE HARD AND FAST FROM THE MOMENT THE FIRST NOTE IS
STRUCK TO THE FINAL FADE TO BLACK. SARAH RUSHTON-READ CAUGHT UP WITH THE BRITISH BAND’S
EYEBALL TREMBLING UK TOUR.
Pumped up and hedonistic, Kasabian’s
atmospherically designed, psychedelic show
is peppered with a twist of digital rave and
packed with stroboscopic sci-fi visuals. This
optical banquet serves up a compelling
backdrop to the bands sometimes melodic,
often banging but invariably euphoric
catalogue of songs. Phew!
Celebrating the release of their fifth Album,
48:13, Kasabian’s show is as much of an artistic
departure for the design team as Kasabian’s
latest album is musically for the band.
Show Designer Nick Gray of Renegade
Design brings a sense of visual purpose to the
mix, skillfully grafting throbbing strobes and
piercing lasers to layer upon layer of dazzling,
dynamic, fast paced, flickering light. The
looks morph from murky to super bright and
effortlessly sync with eye popping 3D visuals
that bloom from the stage wide video screen.
Despite such visceral imagery, at no point
is the band’s relationship with its audience
upstaged or compromised. Instead the super48
real, 3D mindbender skillfully crystalises what
Kasabian does best live on stage and transposes
it, in various states of intoxicating distortion, to
the screen behind.
Gray has worked with Kasabian for eight
years; his creative relationship with singer and
lead guitarist, Sergio Pizzorno, is longstanding.
The men share similar artistic tastes, which has
enabled them to make a ‘brave’ departure when
it comes to the look of the bands most recent
UK and European tour.
For boundary pushing Gray, creative
departures are part for the course: “We wanted
to build the design around the video element,”
explained Gray. “Our aspiration was to create
visuals that had a tangible connection to the
band, the music they play and how they behave
on stage.”
VISUAL CREATIVITY
To that end the video content is constructed
around live action in real time. Gray assembled
a creative team that included Sam Pattinson
from visual design and production specialists
Treatment; creative technologist Matt Swoboda,
who recently developed a new stand alone
software called Demolition that can plug in to
the D3 Media Server and Damian Hale, creative
content designer and developer.
Between them they capture the live action
on stage, transform it graphically and transfer
it to the big screen. Swoboda explained: “I
used software previously applied in gaming
technology and created a live rendering plugin, which can work with the d3 Technologies
media server. At a basic level Demolition enables
designers to create effects around real time
video content captured by any kind of camera.
Previously the option was to statically build
a look in After Effects and then render that
video out. That took time and was obviously
impossible to change on the fly.”
Content Designer Hale continued: “I worked
alongside Nick Gray to create the content layers
and effects parameters, which we used in
conjunction with Xbox Kinect 3D Cameras to
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Kasabian
Opposite and Below: The tour’s spectacular visual design was a blend of work from the great minds behind Renegade and Treatment Studios.
distort the live filmed image.”
Inspired by the 2009 Gaspar Noé film Enter
The Void, the imagery reflects and echoes the
sound, mood and atmosphere of Kasabian’s
music in a 3D graphic style, sometimes sharp,
other times gritty and abstract.
“Our aim was to encapsulate raw
performance, and emulate the sound of the
music graphically,” explained Gray. “The video
is textural, it’s certainly not about telling a four
minute story for each song on an oversized
telly!”
This was initially challenging for Hale: “As
an illustrator and filmmaker the Demolition and
live action approach was out of my comfort
zone. My method is generally more traditional
and linear. I’d worked with Matt (Swoboda)
on Ed Sheeran in the summer, and we’d used
Demolition then. It certainly got the creative
juices flowing.”
As far as Treatment’s Sam Pattinson is
concerned the exodus from the content he’s
used to commissioning was really exciting.
“There will always be a need for linear content.
We’ve worked with a lot of artists on many
unique productions and we’re constantly
inviting new people to work with us, so our
output is varied. Having this new tool has
opened up numerous possibilities. Ed (Sheeran)
and Kasabian are the first taste of that. It’s
exhilarating to see designers question the
accepted format of shows and the relationship
bands have with audiences. We need to
encourage that, try new things and keep our
work fresh and interesting.”
And there are many benefits as Swoboda
details: “The real time aspect is good for the
show and for the production process. It gives
us much more scope to react quickly and we
can make edits very late in the day. We don’t
have to wait 12 hours for everything to be rerendered or to transfer files.”
The team uses eight unmanned, Xbox
infrared Kinect cameras strategically positioned
on the stage filming the band. The range of
each camera is minimal and the depth of field
limited. “It took time to make it a foolproof,”
explains Gray. “If the band don’t stand in front
of the right camera at the right time then there
will be nothing meaningful on the screen!
Obviously we have a choice of eight cameras so
we can cut between them.”
For Hale and the rest of the team, watching
Kasabian see themselves for the first time
on screen and play up to it was immensely
satisfying. “That was a great feeling and actually
it’s those unpredictable moments, especially in
the first few shows that help fine-tune the ideas.
As the tour progressed everyone worked out
how to get the best out of it.”
Of course someone has to make all this
happen on the night so in a dark corner
behind the huge 22.2-metre by nine-metre
high WinVision 9mm pitch screen sits a
relaxed Gilbert Roper. “I’m in charge of the
d3 Technologies media server. My job is to
cut from one camera to the other to ensure
we always have the best shots on screen. The
Demolition DFX template layer is basically
visit us at the Panasonic stand. 1-P20, ISE, 10-12 Feb, RAI Amsterdam.
www.d3technologies.com
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PRODUCTION PROFILE: Kasabian
Below: A DiGiCo SD7 console was the desk of choice for FOH; Kasabian toured in support of their fifth studio album; Renegade and Chaos Visual supplied the tour’s visual equipment.
another content layer but instead of using a bit
map or video its source is a DFX file. This has key
farmable parameters from which we can create
the output image. This means we can adjust
things like the resolution, rotate and change
parameters.”
Content is triggered using a mix of timecode
from the band and Roper cutting between the
Kinect cameras live. The whole video package
including a d3, four camera four channel PPU
and screens plus the full stage width WinVision
9mm screen was supplied by Chaos Visual
Productions, which is now part of the PRG
Group.
But it doesn’t end there; either side of the
stage there is a dynamic I-MAG output. In
charge video director Paul Eggerton (Eggy): “We
have four manned Sony HXC-100’s cameras, two
in the pit - on track and dolly - and two long
lenses at FOH. It’s pretty lively and there are a
lot of cuts from camera to camera to keep lead
singer Tom (Meighan) in shot. We also have a
number of unmanned Bradley Engineering robo
cameras for drums, a reverse view of Serge and
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the string quartet. Screen projection is provided
by two 26k Barco projectors.”
All this visual wizardry is expertly supported
by Nick Gray’s hip hop / rave style lighting and
laser design, which intertwines with the images,
helping them to pop right out of the screen.
Gray is renowned for his precision programmed
lighting, which can feature up to 150 cues in a
single song.
Lighting runs to time code in beat-perfect
synchronicity with the musical builds and drops.
Like the band Gray often leaves you wanting
more... and then wham bam thank you mam,
gives it to you, smack in the face, when you
least expect it!
LIGHTING AND LASERS
Central to Nick’s creative team was Lighting
Operator Rob Gawler who programmed and
ran everything from a High End Systems Hog
4 console. “I cannot pretend that I could have
done any of this without Rob,” said Gray. “He
spent hours programming and fine tuning this
show - he’s a very patient and talented man!”
Although the lighting budget had to be
paired back to accommodate the interactive
video it didn’t stop Gray including 25 ER
Productions RGB BEAMBURST Lasers along
with three TRIPAN RGB OPSL systems - one
positioned on the upstage centre lighting pod
and two flown upstage for downstage looks.
“I wanted a multi-layered effect, everything
had to balance out. It’s about careful choice
of fixtures. I work with Julian Lavender at Neg
Earth and always include Clay Paky in my rig.
This time Sharpys and Shapy Washes. They’re
compact, robust but at the same time they pack
a punch and offer plenty of tools for effects plus
lots of strong colours. In particular I used the
Sharpy Wash 330’s stunning texturising effects
to add 3D effect to the overall look.”
Gray’s rig comprises three 10ft trusses
upstage carrying Clay Paky Sharpy Beams and
Sharpy Washes and vertically mounted to each
are three scaff pipes with Atomic Colors and
2-lite Moles. Two side towers loaded with
Martin Professional MAC Viper Wash DXs were
used for punchy low-level cross light and packed
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Kasabian
Below: Adam Smith of Britannia Row; Paul ‘Eggy’ Eggerton.
with even more blinders and strobes.
On the advance truss 12 Viper Wash DXs
provided key lighting - chosen for their crisp
optics and smooth shuttering system - alongside
Martin Atomic Colors, generic 2-lites and
Sharpys. Overhead three trusses were rigged
with MAC Quantum LED washes, Sharpys and
Sharpy Washes, more Atomic Colors plus an
array of of 2-lites.
A total of nine ER Productions’ RGB
Beamburst were positioned on the top of
each of the upstage truss pods and 12 on the
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upstage truss with four on the downstage
left and right towers. For the flown units ER
Productions manufactured Chrome Plates
positioned on the downstage edge for a bounce
reflection. The result was a parallel structure of
laser beams that encapsulated the band.
Operator Nick Ross used a High End Systems
Road Hog 4 to control the BEAMBURST: “The
main Laser track of the show was ‘Treat’ and
Nick wanted maximum impact from the lasers
so he dropped back on lighting levels. We’re
using Pangolin Beyond for control, which
offers flexibility when it comes to programming
palettes. Of course this would all be wasted if
the right atmospherics were not generated so
we have four Viper delux units plus two Unique
Hazers.”
THE SOUND DIMENSION
The atmosphere adds dimension to the addictive
catalogue of Kasabian songs, which deftly unite
electro-synth, string quartets, pounding guitar
and roaring vocals with a string of unearthly
transitional tracks. Keeping the sound big with a
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Kasabian
Below: Paul Ramsay, FOH Engineer; Monitor Engineer, yogi; Damien Hale Content Designer; Kasabian frontman, Tom Meighan with his Shure Beta 58A vocal microphone; The band’s Sergio Pizzorno
enjoying the show.
banging heartbeat, is FOH Engineer Paul Ramsay
who has toured with Kasabian for three years.
“They’re a great live act musically to mix
and the crowd is the best I’ve experienced
anywhere,” he said.
Ramsay’s console of choice is a DiGiCo SD7,
which spends most of its time protected under
its own beer resistant mackintosh. Ramsay says
the band give him the freedom to mix the show
as he sees fit. “I’m running 56 channels from
stage. The drummer has a regular five-piece kit
with an electronic pad, there’s a bass player,
two guitarists, keyboardist and Tom singing
with most of the rest of band doing backing
vocals. There’s also a trumpet player and a string
quartet for certain songs.”
Ramsay is a long time DiGiCo user and said:
“I choose to use the console for its fantastic
sound, the most user-friendly surface of all
digital consoles, plus the backup support is
phenomenal. It’s common for beer to get
thrown around during the show and one night
a full pint hit the console. The next day the guys
at DiGiCo had a new fader bank sent out to us
with Keith from Britannia Row at the venue to
fit and then clean the console. We were back on
track before we knew we were off it!”
In preparation for this tour Ramsay says his
first port of call is to listen to the album over
and over identifying the effects used for each
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song. “I speak to Serge and ask him if there’s
anything extra he wants me to add on top of
what’s on the album and then I spend a lot
of time with virtual soundcheck setting up
snapshots for each song.
Ramsay uses virtually no external outboard:
“I’m using the full waves package with a pair of
Soundgrid Extreme servers on the SD7. The only
external outboard is an Avalon VT737SP on the
vocal. I’ve been really happy using the Waves
plug ins to emulate the much larger external
outboard package that I previously carried,
which comprised fragile valve gear and high end
reverbs.”
To replicate the effects on the albums
Ramsay wanted to get some particular
distortions on key phrases on the vocals,
telephone effects, extreme modulation and
delays. “I’ve been using the Waves REDD .17 to
get a nice subtle distortion on the vocal when
required and this, blended with the Q10 EQ for
telephone effect, works well. Then using the
macros on the desk I drop these effects in and
out as required with snapshots changing the
parameters song to song.
“My choice of PA is the fantastic L-Acoustics
K1 from Britannia Row Productions. Today we
have 14 K1 on the main hang with three K2 as
downfill. Side hangs comprise 10 K1 and five K2,
and there are also eight K2 for the 240-degree
hangs. Flown behind the main hang are eight
K1SB subwoofer, which gives us a really nice
punchy sub. On the ground we’ve got 24 SB28
subs and eight Kara for lip fills plus ten Arcs for
in and out fills used as required depending on
the venue. We’re using LA Network Manager
and Lake LM44 for system EQ and delay running
at 96K AES from the SD7 desk to L-Acoustics’
LA8 amplifiers”.
Ramsay’s microphones of choice include
a number of Shure, AKG, Royer, Heil, AudioTechnica and Sennheiser models. Singer
Tom Meighan uses a Shure Beta 58A vocal
microphone.
Ramsay’s long time System Tech is Adam
Smith from Britannia Row who looks after the
prediction for the L-Acoustics system each day.
“He does an amazing job with K1 and it always
sounds stunning, with myself having to do very
little EQ each day.”
A loud stage is part of the course for
Monitor Engineer Yogi, who is a Kasabian
veteran. Relaxed and comfortably positioned
on the side of stage he uses the Midas PRO2C
for the band and a PRO1 for the string section.
“The PRO2 is basically full up with mixes for
the band, explained Yogi. “Because the strings
aren’t always with us I put them on a separate
package. Excluding the strings there are seven in
the band. Most are on stereo in ear monitoring
PRODUCTION PROFILE: Kasabian
Below: As the visual content would suggest, all of the band members like their live mix loud and rock ‘n’ roll heavy.
but we also have wedges and side fills so there’s
a lot going on.”
Yogi says he often knows what each
member of the band wants before they do
themselves! “They all like it loud and rock ‘n’
roll. They have the choice of IEMs or using the
wedges and they tend to use both. We have 10
d&b audiotechnik M2’s along the front of the
stage and everyone knows they aren’t quiet!
launched: “I make good use of the POP Groups
and the VCAs. To me, the Midas sound is still
the best. Both consoles are tiny yet offer an
impressive 56 inputs and 27 outputs, I couldn’t
ask for much more beyond some more inputs
for the strings. The graphic feed set up is great
and I can grab it regardless of what I am looking
at, I don’t have to go through layer upon layer
to find it. For example if I select a mix then the
“I make good use of the POP Groups and the VCAs.
To me, the Midas sound is still the best.”
That’s what the band like so that’s what we do.”
Past keeping the artists happy and being
able to hear himself think Yogi says his biggest
challenge is “not getting vibrated off the riser by
the sub that’s coming from out front. “Beyond
that there aren’t many challenges that remain
unresolved when you’ve been working with a
band for so long,” he laughed.
Yogi has used the Midas PRO Series since it
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graphic will follow and if I select a wedge feed
then the graphic will follow that - fantastic,
nothing more to say really!”
SMOOTH PRODUCTION COGS
Overseeing the whole tour is Production
Manager Tyrone Brunton who keeps the cogs of
the touring machine well oiled and finely tuned,
managing the day-to-day logistics and ensuring
that all the necessary pre-planning is taken
care of. However it is clear he trusts his team
implicitly to get on with their jobs, in particular
head rigger Phil Broad. The band and touring
team are kept well fed by Eat to the Beat and
are transported from venue to venue by Phoenix
Bussing. Production logistics and trucking came
via Fly By Nite.
2014 saw Kasabian pack arenas and festivals
the world over, motivating its highly charged
audiences to remain firmly on their springy toes,
hurling beer and keeping the mosh pit boiling
throughout. Having staggered out of one of the
best nights of the year, my eyballs still pulsating
with stroboscopic memories, TPi wonders what
next year could possibly bring...
TPi
Photos: Sarah Rushton-Read
http://thefifthestate.co.uk
www.kasabian.co.uk
www.er-productions.com
www.negearth.com
www.chaosvisual.com
www.prg.com
www.britanniarow.com
www.renegadedesign.co.uk
www.treatmentstudio.com
www.flybynite.co.uk
www.phoenix-bussing.co.uk
www.eattothebeat.com